1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for executing a power on self test (POST). More particularly, the present invention relates to the method for executing the POST on a computer system with a system management BIOS (SMBIOS) information inputted by a user, and relates to a method for updating the SMBIOS information partially.
2. Description of Related Art
Basic input/output system (BIOS) code is the most fundamental firmware among the computer architecture nowadays. The BIOS code is mainly comprised by low-level instruction sets, which initializes several motherboard components and peripherals when the computer system is powered on. Particularly speaking, the BIOS code will execute a power on self test (POST) to initiate all hardware components of the computer system, interpret messages from a keyboard, and transmit information between connection ports. The initialization of the computer system is completely related to the BIOS code. As a result, the testing of the central processing unit (CPU), the memory and the hard disk of the computer system can not be executed if the BIOS code is incorrect, and this situation leads the computer system to an unsuccessful boot up.
In the conventional architecture of the computer system, the BIOS code is stored in a memory that allows permanent data storage for a long time. The so called BIOS memory is, for example, a flash read-only memory (flash ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM) or an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM). The BIOS memory used for storing the BIOS code is embedded into the motherboard or a chipset of the computer system. Therefore, contents of the BIOS code will not be affected by the power off of the computer system, and can be kept in the BIOS memory permanently.
However, the contents stored in the BIOS memory can be varied. For instance, when the computer manufacturer produces a faulty BIOS code or the configuration of the computer system is changed, the BIOS code has to be updated. A system management BIOS (SMBIOS) information is an important and essential data of the BIOS code and requires the most frequently update. The SMBIOS information contains all information related to the computer system and has various data types such as data Type 1, Type 2, Type 3, Type 4, . . . , Type 126. For example, the data Type 1 is the system or manufacturer information, the data Type 2 is the baseboard information, and the data Type 3 if the system enclosure or chassis information. Since each of the computer components has its individual system information, the SMBIOS information should be changed by the variation of the hardware configuration.
Nowadays, there are several tools provided by computer manufacturers for updating the SMBIOS information in the BIOS code, but these tools make the user to directly modify the data stored in the BIOS memory (e.g. flash ROM). Either the incorrect SMBIOS information has been inputted to the BIOS memory or the user wants to retrieve the default value of the SMBIOS information, the user has to flash the whole BIOS memory again. Besides, the power failure of the computer system during the user updates the SMBIOS information stored in the BIOS memory may cause the BIOS code being crashed and lead to the failure of booting the computer system. All these drawbacks make the update of the SMBIOS information become inconvenient and less flexibility.